


Flu Season

by katherinepulitzumber



Series: Look After You: Mileven Drabbles [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddles, Eleven | Jane Hopper Deserves Happiness, F/M, Fluff, Humor, I swear they kill me, I think I wrote this during flu season idk, Mileven, Mileven being so freaking cute, Sickfic, hopper being a great dad, like so much fluff, mike is a good bf, mike telling el childhood stories, she loves listening to his voice, ya gonna need a dentist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:03:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherinepulitzumber/pseuds/katherinepulitzumber
Summary: Flu season in Hawkins has made it to a certain cabin in the woods.





	Flu Season

El Hopper felt awful- scratch that- she felt _miserable._

_Why was there a thing called "flu season"? Didn't the four seasons get enough time?_

Her throat felt like it was on fire and her head pounded worse than anytime she'd used her powers. Anything in the Upside Down had nothing on this.

She could defeat monsters but a virus kept her in bed? That was something that irritated her to no end.

Not only was she feeling miserable, but she was bored and tired. The tv gave her a headache; even at a low volume. Not to mention- all of the soap operas were reruns that she'd practically memorized. What's the point of watching them again if you can't act them out?

Meanwhile, Hopper was worried about her. El didn't have a strong immune system. She'd spent practically her whole life in a lab before meeting those three boys in the woods. He didn't want to loose another daughter. He didn't want to go through the pain again.

She refused to go to a doctor- and with right reason. He couldn't persuade her with all of the Eggos in the world to get her to go where they had more needles and lab coats. He had phoned the Byers' house and Joyce (who had gone through flu season with her two boys before) reassured him that all he could really do was keep her comfortable and wait it out.

A knock on the door (the secret knock) caused him to set down his newspaper and get up from the couch. He didn't even have to take a guess at who it was. Hopper had told Mike not to come over many times to keep him from getting sick too, but the boy was just as (if not more) stubborn than him. Mike insisted that his sister Holly had the same flu so he should be immune to it now.  Hopper unlocked the door with a sigh and quickly pulled Mike in the cabin- putting the locks back in place.

"Is she okay? How is she doing? Does she have a fever? Does-"

Hopper held a hand out to stop the million questions that tumbled out of the worried kid's mouth.

"Easy Wheeler. She's doing alright. We just need to let her rest."

Mike nodded quickly and Hopper saw him glance at the door to El's room. He sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"Go ahead."

Hopper could barely finish his sentence before Mike had nearly sprinted to El's room.

Mike gently moved the half closed door and stepped inside.

Since El was now living with Hopper permanently, they'd decided her room needed to be decorated. With the aid of Nancy, they had painted her room a lavender color. Polaroids of all of the kids hung up on El's bedroom wall.

He looked over at her sleeping figure under the covers and smiled sadly. He always wished she'd sleep peacefully and would do anything he could to keep nightmares from invading her mind. He walked over and crouched by her bed, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb over it.

"Hey kid," Hopper said, poking his head through the door, "I have an emergency call and have to head to the station. Keep her company, okay? Make sure she's alright. Can you do that?"

Mike nodded.

"And no funny business." Hopper said, with a small glare.

It wasn't that Hopper didn't trust Mike. In fact, he liked the boy very much after seeing how much he cared for El. That didn't mean he wouldn't still be protective over her.

"You realize she's sick, right?" Mike said, throwing an equal glare, " And even if she wasn't you know I wouldn't do anything considered funny business." He made air quotations around the words _funny business_ with the hand that wasn't currently holding El's.

"I know kid." Hopper muttered, putting on his jacket, "I know you take good care of her. I'll be back later."

Mike nodded, his eyes still on El, and didn't even realize Hopper left until he heard the front door shut.

El stirred slightly at the noise, her small hand tightening around Mike's before her eyes fluttered open.

The messy haired boy currently next to her bed finally came into focus.

"Mike?" She whispered, her voice sounding strained from her sore throat.

"Yeah." He said, the side of his lip quirking up into a small smile, "Are you feeling any better?"

El shook her head, before quickly sitting up as a round of coughing came onto her.  Mike gently rubbed her back as she pulled her knees up to her chest and rest her aching head on them.  Mike sat next to her and rest a hand over her's.

"Do you need anything?" He asked softly.

She shook her head before looking up at him and sighing, "It's boring here." She said.

Mike's expression softened taking in the current state of his girlfriend.  Her face was extremely pale and her nose was pinker than bubblegum.  She wiped said nose on her pajama sleeve.

"Why does my nose drip? I'm not using my powers." She asked.

"It's called snot."

El crinkled her nose in disgust.  She'd heard that word from Hopper when he was frantically talking to Joyce about El's cold.

"It's gross." She said.

Mike couldn't help but laugh lightly, pressing his lips to her forehead in a small kiss.  He pulled away, eyebrows knitted.

"Hopper said I had a fever." El said, as if she could read his mind, "It was- one oh one, point three." She recited the numbers carefully as she was half asleep the last time Hopper took her temperature.

She laid back on her pillow and gently patted the spot next to her.  Mike just stared at her, wide-eyed.  He was 100% sure Hopper had a shotgun.  He was also 100% sure he wouldn't hesitate to use it.

"He won't kill you." El rolled her eyes, sniffing slightly, "I wouldn't let him."

"Yeah but-"

"Mike. . ." She sighed in exhaustion, just talking draining her more by this point, "Please?"

_What defined "funny business?" Cuddling wasn't funny business.  El needs me, Hopper would surely understand.  If not-_

Mike just shook his head out of his thoughts, El needed him and that was what was important to him right now.

He carefully slipped under the covers next to her and put an arm around her.  El happily snuggled against him, her head against his chest and her arm draped over him.

"Tell me a story?" She whispered.

El loved hearing the stories of when the boys would hang out when they were younger.  It was as if she could relive her childhood in a better way through them.

Mike started on the story of how Will had entered the school's art show and won first place while Dustin had come in dead last with a drawing of a stick figure (while silently mumbling that "the competition was rigged" and "Will was far more advanced than a middle school art show") Will still displayed the ribbon in his room proudly next to many sketches. Mike knew that, besides him, Will was El's favorite of the group. And with how close Joyce and Hopper had gotten- all of the kids hoped they'd get married. The Hopper-Byers as a happy family was a thought that could even nearly make Ted Wheeler crack a tiny smile (the rarest thing in the world). Mike continued telling of how Will sketched them all as their Dungeons and Dragons characters- knowing he'd draw El next. He was so absorbed into the story that he didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until he felt her breathing had evened out against where her head rest at his neck, tickling it ever so slightly.

Mike just smiled softly, turning his head to give her a small kiss on the forehead once more as he played with her short hair; closing his own eyes.

Hopper would eventually return in the evening to see the two still asleep; wrapped in each other's embrace. He ran a hand across his face and sighed deeply before phoning Karen and telling her that her son was spending the night. He walked back and stood in the doorframe for a few seconds longer, smiling softly. Everyone, including him, thought these kids were far to young to understand the concept of love. But if he'd seen anything even remotely close to that definition- it would be his daughter and her boyfriend, finally sleeping peacefully thanks to having only each other.

He shook his head slightly before closing the door (Not all the way. He still is a father who needs to keep an eye on that Wheeler kid of course). Hopper made a cup of coffee before turning the tv on low.

The only sounds of the night to fill the cabin were the soft hum of the television and the small snoring of the two sleeping teenagers in love.


End file.
